태풍 '위투'에 초토화된 사이판...정부, 軍수송기 파견
Super typhoon Yutu passed over the Northern Mariana Islands early Thursday, leaving at least one person dead.
It caused blackouts and damage across the islands, and also left some 1 8-hundred South Koreans stranded in Saipan.
For details we turn to our Ko Roon-hee.
Rescue and relief operations are underway after the most powerful typhoon in half a century passed the islands of Tinian and Saipan on Thursday local time.
Local authorities from the island of Tinian said most houses and buildings were destroyed...leaving residents without power or water.
Some 200 to 300 electricity poles have been blown over… and authorities are saying restoring power is the top priority.
The Honolulu National Weather Service reported that maximum sustained winds of 290 kilometers per hour were recorded around the eye of the storm.
The super typhoon also damaged Saipan's main airport.
The international airport is temporarily closed… leaving travelers, including 1-thousand-8-hundred Korean tourists, stranded.
Saipan is a popular tourist spot for Koreans…and some 180-thousand people visited the island in 2015.
The South Korean government has announced that it plans to dispatch a military transport plane to Saipan on Saturday.
A rapid response team to provide emergency aid will be sent as well.
Meanwhile…Yutu is traveling at 20 kilometers per hour towards the northern Philippines, and is expected to make landfall early on Wednesday.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
